2005: The End? - July

It was July 2005 when Top of the Pops moved to Sundays and I got out of the habit of watching as a result. 

I count 1 more record from the rap/R&B umbrella than the indie/garage rock one. Top of the Pops had twice as many of the rap/R&B records on the show than the indie/garage rock ones.

There had been no rap records enter the Top 40 in June, but July was more than making up for it. There were 2 records I distinctly remember from artists I'd never heard of before than I felt I should like but didn't. Those were "Roc Ya Body (Mic Check 1 2)" by MVP and "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee. When Jeremy Clarkson presented Top of the Pops he put in earplugs for the latter and for the first time I found myself agreeing with Jeremy Clarkson about music.

We also had "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" by Kanye West, again a record I felt I should like given how much I liked his first album but I just couldn't get into it.

The only rap record to get full marks was "Ghetto Gospel" by 2Pac ft Elton John. This reminds me of listening to Galaxy FM on my phone so I can only conclude it was being played long before it charted. I can picture myself walking down the street I lived on listening to it, but by July I'd moved house. Or maybe my memory is playing tricks on me.

R&B wise it's a big fat zero. The presence of Lil Jon on "Girlfight" by Brooke Valentine made me try to like it, but her voice just didn't go with the music. As a result this was a strong candidate for the worst record.

The winner for worst record is Charlotte Church with "Crazy Chick". Basically we have a famous child singing hymns who becomes an adult and goes off the rails like a lot of famous children do. Then she tries to make "proper music" but fails spectacularly.

Dance music wise I count just 4 records again. We have "Say Hello" by Deep Dish which is the best record. An example of me starting to prefer a bit of house music over the harder side of dance music.

Then there's "NY Excuse" by Soulwax, a great record. Daft Punk have the pretty average "Technologic". Finally there's the Euro cheese "Nasty Girl" by Inaya Day which is terrible.

On a more chill out vibe we have "Only This Moment" by Royksopp and "Make Things Right" by Lemon Jelly, both decent records.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 19%

Here's a look at the chart:

We're back up to the same level as May, maybe the charts haven't died just yet.